Anyone familiar with a SPECT scan?

[Tigerman]

I have been on this website for about 6 months now and post in spurts, but I always read other posts. I notice many people wondering if they have this or that. What compelled me to write this post was someone saying there is no way to accurately diagnose things like bi-polar or other more serious mental illnesses. I had a SPECT scan done in 2007 after two pretty severe head injuries in 1982 and 1997 that greatly affected my life. I have been to numerous doctors and neurologists, had an EKG, Catscan, MRI, and a memory/skills test done. None of those tests helped me as much as the SPECT scan. I often wondered what was wrong with me and why all of those doctors always seemed to minimize my concerns or misdiagnose me. A SPECT scan works by a technician shooting a dye into your arm and waiting about an hour until it gets to your brain. You then lay on a table and have three high-tech cameras take pictures of your brain in real time. The dye is a radioactive isotope, but is not harmful to your body because it passes through quickly. These cameras are able to see the blood flowing through your brain and identify problem areas. A similiar scan is called a PET scan, but I believe it is much more expensive. I would highly recommend anyone concerned about anxiety, depression, bi-polar, brain trauma, alzheimer's, schizophrenia, or ADD to consider this route. It can bring into focus more clearly what your problems are and greatly helps to calm anxieties.

[Guest]

Hey Tigerman,
Have never heard of that test but it sounds like it would tell you what might be wrong with you. Since you had two previous head traumas, I hope the test gave you some answers. Sometimes I wish they would do a catscan cause something just doesn't feel right. I can't put my finger on what is exactly wrong but just feel like something is just not right. They did a catscan once quite a while ago but it didn't show any abnormalities. So that was that. I think they did give me some meds to take. They didn't seem to help either and so I just didn't take them anymore. Haven't been back to see the doctor.Am thinking about going again soon.
Hate when it just seems like it is just my imagination.Take care. Good luck with the program. Have some very good tools to help you with your problems.

[Guest]

I am curious as to why I only received one reply to my post? I have lived with two brain injuries for 25 years of my life and have been to many doctore/specialists. I really feel this topic could help people on this board tremendously. A SPECT scan could be vital to you re3ceiving the proper help and living a normal life. A Catscan and MRI are not the same things as a SPECT scan. Thinki of it this way: A Catscan/MRI show that the parts are there and appear normal on the outside and a SPECT scan shows the functionality of those parts. You can have an MRI or Catscan done with no abnormalities showing and have a SPECT scan done showing major disfunctions. This is what I experienced. The SPECT scan is potentially huge in the field of mental health.

[Barb G.]

Hey I have never heard of that. Sounds pretty cool but am not sure how I could ask my doc for it. I do have insurance but I am sure they may need a reason other than my anxiety for insurance purposes. You had a very valid reason since you had the head trauma. What did they find out from the scan?

[Guest]

Interesting:

<A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_pho ... tomography" TARGET=_blank>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_pho ... ography</A>

<A HREF="http://www.mayfieldclinic.com/PE-SPECT.htm" TARGET=_blank>http://www.mayfieldclinic.com/PE-SPECT.htm</A>

<A HREF="http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/spect-scan/MY00233" TARGET=_blank>http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/spect-scan/MY00233</A>

Thanks. I will check further into this.

Gman5256